Could this be the new date for The Masters?

As golf’s officials desperately to try find a way to salvage at least part of this season, it is being reported that The Masters could be rescheduled for early November.

The Augusta National Golf Club is believed to be looking at the possibility of staging the tournament either from November 5-8 or 12-15. 

That’s over a month later than the October date previously rumoured. However, according to sources who spoke to Golf Digest, November appeals to the ‘Green Jackets’ of the Georgia club for a number of reasons, not least the extra time to get the course conditioned and the prospect of fewer storms in November. 

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November is a mild month in Georgia, with average temperatures of between 8.9°C to 21.7°C. The days are still relatively long in the south at that time of year, too, allowing plenty of time to complete a small, limited-field tournament. 

The Masters was the first of the men’s major championships to fall victim to the affects of the coronavirus pandemic. 

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Since it was postponed on March 13, the US PGA Championship – originally slated to take place at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco from May 14-17 – has also been pushed back, with the USGA expected to announce the postponement of June’s US Open soon, perhaps as early as this week.

It is also being reported that the US Open could move from its original venue Winged Foot. The club is located in New York state, and just five miles from a coronavirus “containment zone” that has been set up in New Rochelle. 

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The state has become the epicentre for the disease in the US, which now has the grim distinction of owning the most confirmed cases of the disease of any country in the world. 

It is believed that has prompted officials at the USGA to open talks with other venues – including Oakmont and Pinehurst – over the possibility of stepping into the breach and taking over from Winged Foot this year.